Brian Hart
Transatlantic Crossing Day 14

england · spain · portugal · bermuda

Transatlantic Crossing Day 14

Royal Naval Dockyard, Bermuda

· 7 mins read

  • Start of day: Royal Naval Dockyard, Bermuda
  • End of day: At sea

Land ho! Bermuda!

We were here in Bermuda, at the Royal Naval Dockyard, just last year aboard the Celebrity Silhouette with my parents. For that cruise we docked on a Wednesday and stayed until Friday, overnighting 2 nights. This would be a one day visit, with overcast skies all day threatening rain, and sustained winds above 20 knots. I didn’t have an excursion planned for today and heard that several were canceled.

Here’s us traversing the channels to get to the port.

Early morning on the stateroom balcony as the ship approaches Bermuda, with a white Lavazza coffee mug and a teal-covered Kindle on a glass-topped table that reflects the clouds. Beyond the glass railing, calm grey-blue water stretches to a low line of land on the horizon under a sky of scattered cumulus clouds lit pale gold near the horizon

This is the Commissioner’s House at the National Museum of Bermuda, a museum I highly recommend, having visited on my last trip here. They even cover the history of electricity in Bermuda, which I found interesting.

The Commissioner's House at the National Museum of Bermuda, a two-story building with wraparound cast-iron verandas and a white roof, standing on a grassy rise behind massive grey limestone fortification walls that drop to turquoise water. Old cannons sit along the ramparts, a black iron railing runs across the foreground, and the sky is heavy with grey clouds

George, one of my fellow solo travelers, recommended this mini golf course. I didn’t play but I did happen to run into him and Andrew (another solo) while they were heading over there.

A sign zip-tied to a chain-link fence reading 'World's Best Mini Golf Course, Here in Dockyard' above the Bermuda Fun Golf Dockyard logo and an aerial photo of the course with a red path winding through green putting holes beside the sea. The bottom lists 'Open 10am - 10pm, 7 days a week' with TripAdvisor and Best of Bermuda award logos, and a red 'We're Open' sign and palm fronds show above

I missed it!

A poster set into an arched recess in a pale limestone wall advertising 'Jungfrau OKFEST, October 4, 10, 16 & 21' with Dockyard Brewing Co. and Bermuda tourism logos, an illustrated blonde woman with braided hair holding four mugs of beer in front of pretzels and sausages, and a banner reading 'Free admission to Valiant Lady passengers.' Below, a black sign with a pointing hand reads '100 meters ahead,' with rust stains streaking the stone and a strip of green lawn in front

The inside of a red telephone box completely covered in hundreds of stickers from travelers, breweries, bands, and businesses, including 'The Clay Universe,' 'Castaways,' 'I Know Tom,' 'CZIG,' and 'Hootenanny 2022,' surrounding a working stainless-steel payphone whose black handset is wrapped in an 'All Points Marine' sticker. Red-framed glass panes of the box's door are visible at right

I asked Claude which Bermuda fish chowder people rated the highest in the Royal Naval Dockyard area, and it said to go to The Frog & Onion. It was good!

A bowl of Bermuda fish chowder, rich and reddish-brown with flecks of fish, tomato, and herbs, with a spoon in it, served on a white saucer with a crusty white bread roll, on a dark slate bar top at the Frog & Onion Pub, with a pub coaster bearing the Frog & Onion logo beside it and a wrapped set of cutlery on a plate at upper right

I sat on the pirate ship on the pier for a few minutes in the wind.

Then walked around some more capturing photos.

Red hibiscus blooms and bright green leaves in sharp focus in the foreground of a garden at Dockyard, with palm fronds hanging overhead and the blurred limestone walls, shuttered windows, and chimneys of the old naval buildings around a lawn in the background under an overcast sky

These little EVs are cute, though at the price point I’d probably rent something else.

A row of three tiny two-seat XEV Yoyo electric rental cars from Current, two lime green and one navy with a lime-green door panel and the Current logo and phone number 441-296-8949, plugged into white charging posts in a parking lot. Behind them stand tall palms, yacht masts in the marina, and a two-story limestone warehouse with a Current sign over its door, under a cloudy grey sky

Rear view of a small blue-grey XEV Yoyo Pro electric car with a lime-green door panel and lime trim around the rear bumper, Bermuda rental plate RMC413, parked in a marked bay in front of a towering cut-limestone cliff streaked with ferns and moss. Pink 'Current Reserved Parking' signs are posted on the rock, and a charging cable runs from a post beside the car

A white A-frame sandwich board on asphalt advertising Current electric car rentals, with a yellow arrow and the Current logo on a magenta background above illustrations of the XEV Yoyo Pro at $190 per day and the XEV Yoyo at $175 per day, each with range and feature notes, and the tagline 'Explore Bermuda in style with the lowest rental rates in Dockyard.' Two people walk away across the parking area behind it

Somehow the rain held off all day until a few minutes after we cast off ropes! And then it rained, and it rained, and it rained.

Part of the Transatlantic Crossing 2026 trip.